Exhibits & Events

Detlef (Dick) Aporta was born in Germany and moved to Canada at the age of 10. He began painting as a teenager in Vancouver before attending the Vancouver School of Art. He completed an Advanced Diploma in Design (Honours) and attended the University of British Columbia, where he earned a Bachelor of Education with a Double Art Major. While teaching art over the years, he continued to create.

Naturally left-handed but taught to use his right hand, Aporta noticed he was relying more and more on his left hand when painting and switched to using his it entirely. This change created a transformation in his style and technique by loosening him up and making his work bolder. Early works show an affinity for watercolours and many pieces reflect life along the Fraser River where he would go to paint.

Aporta has continued to try new artistic pursuits, including lost-wax casting, silversmithing, designing and constructing sets, and creating liturgical designs.
Over the years, his works in acrylic and collage have become paramount. His use of colour is powerful, and the bold texture comes from working and reworking a piece, including painting over previous works in search of new territory. Through his art, Aporta reflects on his past experiences, drawing on them as a source of inspiration and examining them anew, in addition to revisiting feelings about the self, masculinity, relationships, and feelings associated with being an outsider as a young immigrant.

In his Sawdust series, Aporta revisits his years working at the Canadian White Pine Sawmill in Vancouver. This look back at his time there captures a generation's experience of Vancouver's grittier industrial working past.